Changing family patterns

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Changing patterns of divorce

  • Number of divorces doubled between 1961 & 1961, then again by 1972.
  • The divorce rate peaked with 165,000 in 1993.
  • In 2012 the rate was 118,0006x more than 1961, less than the 1990's because of cohabitation.
  • 40% of all marriages today will end in divorce.
  • 65% of divorce petitions come from women, in 1946 only 37% did,
  • Most women divorce their husbands because of unreasonable behaviour
  • Couples more likely to divorce; marry young, have child before, cohabit before, both partners are remarrying.
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History of divorce law

  • Before 1857 - Divorce was virtually non existent, only to be obtained by a special & costly Act of Parliament. 
  • 1857 - Men could divorce unfaithful wives, however women had to prove their husbands cruelty as well as adultery, still very costly.
  • 1923 - Grounds of divorce equalised for men and women.
  • 1949 - Legal aid became available making divorce cheaper.
  • 1961 - 27,000 divorces, nine times higher than the 3,000 in 1921.
  • 1969 - Divorce Law Reform Act; allowed 'irretrievable' breakdown (unreasonable behaviour, adultery, desertion or seperation) to be the sole reason for divorce. 
  • 1984 - People could now apply for divorce one year after marriage instead of three.
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Explanations for the rise in divorce

  • Changes in the law - Equalising the grounds lead to a sharp rise in divorce petitions from women, the Divorce Law Reform Act lead to the doubling of the divorce rate overnight, making divorce cheaper (legal aid) meant that not just the rich could divorce.
  • Declining stigma - Mitchell & Goody; since the 1960's there has been a decline in the stigma attatched to divorce. Divorce is more socially accceptable (normalised) not shameful, it is likely to be seen as a misfortune, so more couples resort to it.
  • Secularisation - Religious institutions & ideas are losing their influence, so the traditional opposition of the church to divorce carries less weight in society. In the past churches used to refuse to conduct marriage services for divorcees, this may have stopped so the church remains credible. 
  • Rising expectations of marriage - Fletcher (functionalist); people putting higher expectations on marriage mean that less couples are likely to tolerate an unhappy one. In the past people married for economic reasons so they had low expectations unlike today.
  • Allan & Crow; without the ideology of romantic love, personal commitment and intrinsic satisfaction, the marriage can end. 
  • Functionalists; the rise in remarriage show that marriage is still popular & important.
  • Criticisms - Feminists; ignore the oppression of women as is the main cause for divorce and conflict, they fail to explain why more women seek divorce than men.
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Explanations for the rise in divorce pt2

  • Women's increased financial independence - 53% of women working in 1971 rose to 67% in 2013, girls greater success in education help them to achieve better paid jobs than the past, & welfare benefits mean women don't remain financially dependent on their husbands.
  • Allan & Crow; marriages aren't ecomincally driven, so women have a seperate source of income and can support themselves if they get divorced.
  • Feminists The dual burden of women is leading to higher divorce rates, marriage is still patriarchal and benefiting men. Bernard (radical); the rise in divorce is because women are beginning to accept feminist ideas and are more confident in their dissatifaction with martial oppression.
  • Postmodernity & the individulisation thesis - Beck & Giddens; the duty to remain with the same partner for life has lost power for individuals.
  • Relationships are now fragile because relationships that exist to satisfy each partners needs are very popular (pure relationship), instead of for children, tradition or a sense of duty, the rising divorce rate normalises ending a marriage due to a lack of pure relationship.
  • Modernity encourages both men and women to work in a persuit of self interest causing more stress and conflict.
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Meaning of a high divorce rate

  • The New Right - Undermines marriage and the nuclear family which is vital for social stability, divorce results in welfare dependent mothers who leave boys without male role models and lead to poorer health and failing education.
  • Feminists - Desirable because it shows that women are breaking free from the patriarchal oppression of the traditional nuclear family. 
  • Post modernists & the individualisation thesis - Shows that individuals have the freedom to end marriage when it no longer meets their needs, leading to greater family diversity.
  • Functionalists - Divorce is not a threat to social institution because many people remarry which shows that people are still committed to the idea of marriage. 
  • Interactionists - Aim to understand what divorce means to the individual, Morgan; we cannot generalise the meaning of divorce because everyone interprets it differently. 
  • Personal life perspective - Carol Smart; divorce has become normalised so the family can adapt to it without disintergrating, they understand it causes problems e.g financial difficulties, lack of contact for children with parents etc...Yet it is not a major social problem. 
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Decline in marriage

  • Fewer people are marrying, rates are at their lowest since the 1920's, in 2012 there were 175,000 first marriages, which is half the number for 1970. There is more 'serial monogamy' (re-marriages) than before. People are marrying at a later age, the average ages for first marriages rose by 7 years between 1971 & 2012, it is now 32 years for men & 30 for women. 
  • Changing attitudes to marriage - There is less pressure to marry, indviduals have more freedom to choose any type of relationship they want, the quality of relationship is more important than it's legal status. 
  • Secularisation - Churches are in favour of marriage but ther influence has declined, Census; 3% of young people with no religion were married, against 17% with religion. 
  • Declining stigma - Cohabitation, remaining single & having children outside of marriage is widely acceptable. In 1989, 70% believed couples who want children should get married, in 2012 it was 42%.
  • Changes in the posiition of women - More educational & career prospects mean women are less economically depedent on men, feminism; women are dissuaded from marriage because it is a patriarchal institution. 
  • Age on marrying - People want to focus on full-time education or establish themselves in a career, or they are cohabiting before marriage. 
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Rise in cohabitation

  • There are 2.9 million cohabiting heterosexual couples in Britain, 1/8 couples cohabit which is 2x more than 1996, whilst there are 69,000 same-sex cohabiting couples. 
  • 1/5 are 'serial cohabitants', who have had one or more previous cohabitations. 
  • Decline in stigma, 44% saw 'pre-marital' sex as not wrong at all in 1989, compared to 65% in 2012. Increased career opportunities for women mean they don't need financial security of marriage & secularisation has increased, meaning young people with no religion are more likely to cohabit. 
  • Chester; cohabitation is part of the marriage process, 75% of cohabiting couples say they expect to marry eachother. 
  • Cohabitation may be a trial marriage, some marry if they have kids & some are waiting to divorce before they can marry. 
  • Bejin; young people cohabit permanently, as an alternative to conventional patriarchal marriage, they want an equal relationship. Shelton & John; women who cohabit do less housework than those married. 
  • Same sex couples - same rights to adopt in cohabiting relationships as married couples. Watson; 'quasi-marriage' gays prefer cohabitation with stable partners, comapared with the 1970's where casual relationships were favoured. 
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One person households

  • 3/10 households in 2013 contained only one person, 3x more than 1961.
  • 40% of one-person households are those over 65.
  • Men under 65 were most likely to live alone.
  • By 2033, over 30% of the adult population will be unpartnered & never married. 
  • The increase in seperation & divorce has created more one-person households, especially among men who's children live with their mothers.
  • Young people increase one-person households through 'creative singlehood', choosing to marry later. 
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Childbearing

  • Childbearing - Nearly 1/2 of all children are born outside marriage, 2x more than 1986. Women are having children later, the number rose between 1971-2012 to 28 years, women are having less children than before, more women are remaining childless. 
  • Decline in stigma & rise in cohabitation, more choice, women are focusing on careers.
  • Lone-parent families - 1/4 children live in these families, 90% are matrifocal, single women are the greatest group of lone mothers & they are 2x likely to be in poverty
  • Divorce courts give children to mothers bc of expressive role, feminist ideas mean women are choosing to live alone, men are less willing to look after children.
  • Renvoize; professional women can support children without fathers involvement. Cashmore; w/c mothers with less earning power choose to live alone w/ children bc they experienced abuse. Murray; the welfare state's generosity encourage more single mothers, they can survive with it & without men. 
  • Criticisms - 60% of lone-parents are unemployed, lack of affordable childcare means they can't work. 
  • There are inadequate welfare benefits & failure of fathers to pay child maintenance. 
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Reconstituted families

  • Reconstituted (step) families - Make up 10% of families with dependent children in Britain, 85% have at least one child from the mothers previous relationship &  11% are from the fathers. 
  • Ferri & Smith; the involvement of stepparents in childcare is a positive one, but they are at greater risk of poverty. Allan & Crow; issues of divided loyalty arise, especially with contact of the non-resident parent. McCarthy; the tensions are not so dfferent from those in 'intact' families. 
  • The increase in the number of lone parents, divorce & seperation create step-families.
  • Children often stay with their mother after a divorce or breakup of cohabitation; explaining the statistics.
  • They are at risk of poverty because there are more children & step-fathers may have to support children from a previous relationship.
  • The tensions faced by step-families may be due to a lack of clear social norms about how to behave in these families. 
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The extended family today

  • Charles; supports Parsons, the three-generational family all living together under one roof is now "all but extinct".
  • Willmott; it continues to exist in the form of the 'dispersed extended family', they are geographically seperated but maintain frequent contact through visits & phone calls. 
  • Chamberlain; Caribbean families are geographically dispersed but continue to provide support, through 'multiple nuclear families' they keep contact with siblings, uncles, aunts & cousins who make a big contribution to childrearing. 
  • Bell; among middle class, there was more financial help between father to son. Working class families had more frequent contact (they lived closer) & there was more domestic help from mothers to daughters. 
  • The 'beanpole' family - may be the result of increased life expectancy, so grandparents & great-grandparents live longer. Smaller family sizes, meaning people have fewer siblings and fewer horizontal (cousins, uncles, aunts) ties. Charles; brothers & sisters lose contact. 
  • Obligations to relatives - Finch & Mason;  90% of people had given or recieved financial help, and 1/2 had cared for a sick relative. Cheal; a daughter is preferred for personal care of an elderly woman, but not when needed financially. 
  • Criticisms - Parsons; the extended family live together, with strong mutual obligations. 
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Ethnic differences in family patterns

  • Black families - Over 1/2 of families with dependent children headed by a black person are lone-parent & they're more matrifocal.
  • Argued to be due to disorganised family patterns in slavery (children sold with mother) or that male unemployment/poverty meant that black men are unable to provide for their family, resulting in higher rates of desertion or marital breakdown. 
  • Mirza; reflects the high value black women put on independence. Reynolds; statistics are misleading, many 'lone' parents are in stable, supportive but non-cohabiting relationships. 
  • Asian families - Bangladeshi, Pakistani & Indian households tend to hold 4.4, 4.3 & 3 persons per household, larger than Black Caribbean or British households. 
  • They often contain three generations but are nuclear rather than extended, may be a result of the younger age profile of British Asians, they are more in the childbearing age groups than the rest of the population. 
  • Ballard; the extended family ties provided an important source of support among Asian migrants during the 1950's & 1960's. 
  • In modern society, relatives still live nearby, there is frequent visiting & kinship networks are a continued source of support. Sikhs, Muslims & Hindus are more likely than any other ethnic or religious group to live in extended family units. 
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